Kangaroo draftee Levi Greenwood the new Glenn Archer ?
With pick number 32 in this years AFL National Draft, the Kangaroos secured a Port Adelaide young gun Levi Greenwood. Yesterday this young man recieved an accolade that most in AFL player circles would crave. He has been likened to Glenn Archer “Shinboner of the Century”, this is big wrap on a first year draftee. Going on his size and shape, weighing in at 93kg and standing 181cm tall, few could argue. But it will be the on field actions that will determine whether he is capable of filling the shoes of the retired Kangaroos hardman. If he can even get close to Archer’s hardness and be as intimidating then it will will be great to watch.
Coach Dean Laidley is quietly confident that all his draftees in Greenwood, Blake Grima, Robbie Tarrant, Scott Thompson and Josh Smith can have an impact in 2008. He is probably in a better position with his draftees than other clubs because they have picked up guys that have big bodies that will be able to withstand the contest of senior AFL Football.
Thompson and Greenwood look like they may get their career started down back, which will give a bit of much needed run. While Tarrant and Smith are more than likely to see themselves up forward, something that the Kangas definitely need.
Having made it to a Preliminary Final in 2007 and adding the new faces and also re drafting Blake Grima expect the Kangaroos to have their eyes fixed on the top 4 again in 2008.
Hawks and Dockers take big risks
The talk from the AFL National Draft on Saturday obviously centered around Matthew Kruezer at number 1, but it was the choices of Hawthorn and Fremantle that interested me.
Fremantle used 2 of their picks to revive the careers of Mark Johnson and Kepler Bradley. Bradley you could probably understand because of his age and his athletiscism, but Johnson is in the later part of career you would think and although Fremantle coach Mark Harvey says he is testing better than he did when he was 25, his form in 2006 and 2007 has not been great and Essendon was correct in their decision to get rid of him. Maybe Harvey has seen what Sheedy can do to revive older players careers and is trying to do the same. I hope for his sake he can do it because the Fremantle fans are very unforgiving.
Hawthorn put their heads on the chopping block by picking up ex Port Adelaide forward Stuart Dew. Dew is not in terrible physical shape at the moment, his weight had ballooned out to 120kg and his playing weight is usually around 100kg. He has been training by himself for about 2 months and will be interesting to see him go through the pre season.
There will be alot of expectation from Hawks fans in 2008 after their impressive 2007. If this Dew gamble doesn’t pay off and he can’t get his body back in shape and make a significant impact then there is going to be alot of irate Hawks fans. On the up side Dew will bring with him a great deal of experience to the young list, with only Shane Crawford left in terms of experience that will be a bonus. The only position I see for Dew will be as an impact player off the bench, which may be just what the Hawks need.
For both Hawthorn and Fremantle I hope their gambles pay off because if they backfire then both Harvey and Clarkson will be in the sights of their respective fans.
